


Dying in LA

by Danesincry



Series: Dying in LA - Persona 5 AU [1]
Category: Persona 5
Genre: AU, Age Up, Akechi actually loves Akira an Akira actually loves Akechi, Akira Kurusu and not Ren Amamiya, Akira Kurusu centric, Akira dies but Igor/Fake Igor says none of that shit and brings him back to life, Akira is a singer and pianist, Alias is Ren Amamiya, Alternate Universe, Based On A Panic! At The Disco Song, But Akechi doesn't die, Flashbacks, M/M, Major Character Undeath, No Beta, No one actually dies besides Okumura, Songfic, They're about 25 now, rise and fall
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-09-12
Updated: 2018-09-12
Packaged: 2019-07-11 08:32:22
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,286
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15968618
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Danesincry/pseuds/Danesincry
Summary: Akira Kurusu is known for his musical abilities in Japan under the Alias of Ren Amamiya.One day he gets to play in between sets of the orchestra at a very nice restaurant. He decides to play a song that resonated to his life and that he felt closely connected to. It brings him back to the good days when he could run around and fight Shadows.It also reminds him of his first and only love, Goro Akechi. Akechi had disappeared years ago and Akira still hasn't gotten over his disappearance.---This actually started out as an animatic in my head, but I can't draw so I basically made a story around this song. Not all of this was from the animatic I made in my head. Basically, it wasn't supposed to be so romantic. Only the "Nights at the...." Part was supposed to be romantic and talking about love.





	Dying in LA

**Author's Note:**

> Take this with a grain of salt.
> 
> I didn't read it over again before posting.

Akira walked into the grand cafe quietly. The grand cafe was large, tables scattered all around the ballroom sized dining area, booths lined the walls like cells almost. The room was almost golden, everything was in yellows, metallic orange, or actual gold. Some of the decorations were in rose gold, and the cushions were all black. Even the tile was golden and black. A large golden and crystal chandelier hung from the ceiling in the center. Right under the chandelier was a large black grand piano. Everything seemed to glow softly from the soft light. It was amazing and expensive. More expensive than anything Akira had ever played in.

Akira made his way to the grand piano slowly, letting his eyes scan the room from behind his thick black frames. He could see many people watching him with interest. One lady had dark brown hair that was curled around her face. Her green eyes watched him from behind the wine glass she was slightly twirling in her hand. She was wearing a string of pearls around her neck, lying above a beautiful dark green dress. She looked about 40 years old, and Akira knew she had major money. The man who sat across from her seemed to be her brother, they had the same facial structure and eyes.

Akira sat down at the grand piano and glanced one more time at the people around him. They all looked the same to him, even if they all had their own looks. He felt underdressed in his simple suit that mimicked his old uniform, but without the insignias and with black tight fitted pants. It was odd feeling so underdressed for once.

He sat his sheet music down and stretched his arms before he placed his hands on the piano. The attention turned to him more, and he could feel their eyes on him. He took a breath and started to play, his fingers automatically moving and his voice followed.

“The moment you arrived, they built you up. The sun was in your eyes. You couldn't believe it”

[Akira stood with Yusuke, Ann, Ryuji, and Morgana as they looked at the Shadow in front of him. It was Madarame’s Palace and they all looked over the painting in front of them.

“Sayuri…” Yusuke breathed out in awe. “The real one… what a beauty…”

“This is the painting of you and your mother, right?” Ann turned to Yusuke.

“Yes. This painting would be mine, wouldn’t it?” Yusuke reached a hand out and Akira smiled at him.

“Take it. It does belong to you.” Akira put a hand onto Yusuke’s back. 

They had all fought hard and their bodies ached as the palace slowly started to rumble. Madarame was crying a few meters away, watching as the Phantom Thieves tear down his final lie and take his fake legacy from him.

“You deserve it, Yusuke.” Morgana grinned.

Yusuke took the painting and everything started to break around them, prompting the group to quickly run away, laughing as they all ran. They were high off the adrenaline and the defeat of their second target. One more bad person picked from this world.]

“Riches all around. You're walking, stars are on the ground.”

[“Cheers!”

Akira grinned as they all clinked their drinks together.

They had just defeated Kaneshiro, and everyone was excited over another successful win. They all agreed on a karaoke bar this time. They still had money left from their last winnings in momentos, and they had sold the expensive suitcase off to get a good chunk of cash. This was the first time Akira had seen Makoto so relaxed and able to socialize outside of her older strict nature. It was refreshing to see her have fun with everybody.

“Heeey! ‘Kira!” Ryuji laughed into Akira’s ear, making the latter turn to look as Ryuji slung his arm around AKira. “You should sing for us. I remember you saying that you loved to sing and play piano before you got in trouble with the cops.”

“I’m not the best.” Akira tried to brush off the request and smile as he sipped his sprite.

“I would like to hear you sing.” Makoto grinned at Akira and the others turned and nodded.

“Yes! You haaave to, Akira!” Ann clapped. “You don’t speak much as it is, and I would love to hear your voice singing!” 

“I am interested in how you sound, also.” Yusuke looked up from the phone that he had sitting in his lap, the screen on.

“One song.” Akira sighed, but smiled. He couldn’t say no to his friends. Especially when this was a treat to all of them.

He picked up the mic and chose some type of American pop song and focused on the music and tried his best to keep up with the music. By the end of it, his friends were all stunned for a second, before they all started to clap.

“Dude that was great!” Ryuji laughed.

“You didn’t say he was that good, Ryuji!” Ann turned to Ryuji and grinned. “God, you’re like an angel, Akira.”

Akira beamed before he sat down to enjoy the rest of their time. By the end, Yosuke held up his phone to the others as they exited the room.

“Phantom Thieves are the hot topic online. My school’s social media is blowing up.” Yusuke showed them and they all cheered quietly as they walked.

“Hell yeah!” Ryuji laughed.

“Good job, you guys.” Morgana spoke up from Akira’s jacket.

“We’re leaving our touch on society.” Makoto looked down at the floor, but looked proud.

“I’m proud of you all.” Akira commented and they all directed their sights onto him. He truly was proud of them. They all worked hard for this.]

“You start to believe it.”

[As they all walked out of the Karaoke bar, Akira swore he saw a familiar face passing them on the sidewalk, but as he turned to look back onto them, they were gone. He shook the feeling off and grinned at whatever Ryuji had said, and Yusuke’s quick response. 

They were doing their job and making sure society would change for the good.] 

“Every face along the boulevard is a dreamer just like you. You looked at death in a tarot card and you saw what you had to do.”

[Akira sat in front of a blonde girl as she moved cards around on the table. The street they were in was loud and busy. No one paid attention to the pair as they walked by, they didn’t care for the side attraction that the girl had built up. Her name was Chihaya Mifuna. She was a card reader, a fortune teller. He had seen her multiple times before, but Morgana always advised him from seeing what his fortune was. But here he was. Morgana was quietly brewing up a lecture in the bag, trying to not cause trouble with his anger.

“Ah… let’s see what your fortune is!” Chihaya smiled softly as she slowly flipped over the oh so familiar cards he has gotten to know as the Arcanas. 

Chihaya looked over the cards and her face started to go into a serious one. It was odd how such a happy and carefree face could turn into one of concern and seriousness. She turned her eyes to Akira and studied him before speaking.

“You are in a long journey that you are only half-way through. You will have short victories, and a rise before a fall. You’re climbing towards a goal, but the goal is stopped short in your sudden downfall.” Chihaya placed her pointer finger gently onto a single card. Death.

“You see this card, sir? This is the Death Arcana. You’re going to die within the near future. I apologize.” Chihaya leaned forward. “Your undoing and greatest flaw is your pride and greatest talent. Be warned of the Snake in the Garden of Eden. The Snake will take you down with them.” 

“What does that mean?” Akira asked, ignoring Morgana’s kick to his side.

“I cannot say. Other than that, your future is cloudy and I cannot see around your downfall. Only trust those who have proven their keep and their loyalty. Lock the gates to Eden.” Chihaya’s serious face turned back into a gleeful one as someone approached her table. She quickly swooped her cards into a clean stack and started to reshuffle them. “Remember, my friend. What brings you up will be your downfall. Be warned.”

And with that, she turned to greet the new person. Akira stood up and left the table with a small bow.

“Is that what you were looking for?” Morgana’s irritated voice spoke up once they were out of range.

“.... yes.”]

“But nobody knows you now, when you're dying in LA!”

Akira pressed the keys quickly to the beat of the song. His voice resonated with the notes from the piano, loud and clear. They mixed easily and supported one another, building a true song off of the emotion and passion of the song. Akira hadn’t known then that that warning was a true one. He knew that to an extent that she could tell what would happen, but not that well.

“And nobody owes you now, when you're dying in LA. When you're dying in LA!”

Akira could see people moving around him as he sung the song, but he stayed focus. He worked too much for this to just get distracted by patrons having to leave over small things, or a waiter delivering food.

Akira poured his whole heart into this song. It was the story of how he was Icarus, the group was all Icarus’. They all flew too close to the sun, and Akira had almost made it to the sun.

“When you're dying in LA”

Akira flipped the page easily and he could see the ring on his middle finger glittering in the light. It was a ring that was given to him by the other Phantom Thieves. They all bought them for each other at graduation. A promise to always stay with each other at heart and stay in contact. Not that they wouldn’t, they all still went into the Metaverse together. Being almost graduated from college wouldn’t stop them from saving people from behind the scenes.

“The power, the power, the power. Oh the power, the power, the power. Of LA.”

If you asked Akira of how he felt back then, he would have said he was on a constant adrenaline rush. Always on a high. He must have been on something. A power trip. He could have anyone, even the forbidden fruit.

“Nights at the chateau, trapped in your sunset bungalow. You couldn't escape it, yeah.”

[At first it was stolen kisses from here and there. But then it turned into Akira sneaking someone he knew he couldn’t be caught dead with into Le Blanc at night. And that was he had done that night.

Akira laid next to a brunet who was asleep. Akira had lended him some shorts and a t-shirt to sleep in before they had shared kisses and climbed into the bed together. Morgana was with Haru since it was her day to keep him. They had three days to take Okumura’s heart and Akira had been stressed from it and had just wanted alone time. But his secret had other plans.

Akira could feel his breath tickle the back of his neck as arms wrapped around Akira’s waist from behind.

“Are you asleep yet?” The voice asked.

“Yeah.” Akira responded quietly. 

“Mmm, I’m barely awake…” The voice mumbled next and Akira felt lips kiss the back of his neck before his secret had fallen back asleep.

There was a creak from the window before there was a small thump on the foot of the bed.

“What the…” A small voice hissed from the foot of the bed. “Akira what is going on?”

Akira slowly sat up, panic seering through his body as he tried to not wake up the boy next to him. He picked up his glasses and placed them onto his face. When the world became clear, he could see Morgana sitting on top of their feet.

“Akira, who is that? I can’t make it out from here? I didn’t know you invited people into your bed.” Morgana had an odd voice, like he was shocked.

“Mmmm, what’s making that noise?” The boy groaned from next to Akira and Morgana’s eyes snapped to the body as the boy sat up. He rubbed his eyes and laid his eyes on Morgana afterwards. “You… have a cat?”

Akira nodded as the boy reached out to pet Morgana, just for Morgana to hiss and back up.

“Akechi is who you bring into your bed?!” Morgana growled and Akira glanced between the two. Akechi was blinking at Morgana.

“Ah… I guess he’s not sociable? That’s a shame. I love cats. What’s it’s name?” Akechi looked up to Akira and smiled. Akira had a bad feeling in his gut coiling. Something was majorly wrong.

“His name is Morgana. I found him on the road and decided to bring him in when I first got here.” Akira reached out to pet Morgana, who darted out of reach again.

“You’re not going to pet me, you traitor. You’re sleeping with someone who can ruin us! He’s with the bad guys, Akira!” Morgana growled loudly.

“He’s not that sociable sometimes. I think he just wants food.” Akira made an excuse before moving out of the bed and got up. He slipped his phone into his pajama pocket and quickly scooped up Morgana, who let out protects.

“It’s fine. I understand. Go feed him and come back to bed.” Akechi smiled and laid back down as Akira made a noise of recognition. He quickly moved to bring Morgana downstairs. Once they were down, he sat him down and rubbed his face.

“You weren’t supposed to be home yet. Haru must be worried.” Akira pulled out his phone and pulled up her contact information.

“Akira! You can’t do this to yourself. To us!” Morgana swatted a paw at him. “Think about this! And… she’s asleep.”

“Mmm… I didn’t want you guys to find out about this. But this just… happened. He has never been on my phone or snooping around.” Akira sent a quick text off to Haru explaining that Morgana had stopped by his place and that he’ll try to send him back. He then moved to get food out for Morgana. “And why did you come back?”

“I felt something wrong. I think your time is coming up, Akira. Chihaya told you to not let the Snake into the Garden of Eden, and you just let him in.” Morgana huffed and faced his food.

“He’s not harmful. He may be smart but I doubt he would have suspicions past us hearing about being victims and finding friendship from it.” Akira sighed.

“You’re foolish Akira, foolish.” Morgana started to eat his food.

“Just… promise me you will keep this a secret.” Akira sighed and pet Morgana’s fur.

“Fine…” Morgana groaned in annoyance.

“Thank you.” Akira kissed Morgana’s head, getting a swat in response before he headed back up the stairs and falling back onto the bed. He knew Morgana was telling the truth. He knew Goro Akechi was the Snake in the Garden of Eden. But as long as it was only his heart as the Garden of Eden, everyone will be okay. Only he will get hurt in the end.]

“Drink of paradise, they told you "put your blood on ice". You're not gonna make it.”

[The Phantom Thieves all stared at the phone in horror as Okumura started to spasm and cough up blood. This couldn’t be real. But it was.

Everything changed quickly.

Everyone whispered that the Phantom Thieves were killers, and nothing felt the same. It wasn’t until the time before the festival and they were tallying up the scores for the guest.

“Goro…. Akechi.” Makoto sighed. “They’re all him.”

“It’s not a big surprise.” Ryuji shrugged. “He’s popular right now.”

“Ryuji has a point.” Haru softly spoke as she pet Morgana’s coat. “But is it smart?”

“I… don’t know.” Makoto looked down.

“It’d be inviting the fox into the hen den.” Yusuke looked at his teammates. “Is it truly a good idea?”

“We can use him as intel?” Ann offered and Makoto nodded.

“I was thinking the same thing, Ann.” Makoto moved a strand of hair from her face.

“It’ll help with taking the pressure that the Phantom Thieves are in our school and maybe stop the rumors some.” Ryuji offered.

“I mean, I’m sure his suspicions might be slightly hindered.” Futaba spoke up.

“Why’s that?” Yusuke asked.

“Well! I’ve been watching his press a lot lately. He hasn’t actually spoken about us a lot. Maybe he’s trying to back off some?” Futaba shrugged.

“That could be it…” Akira shrugged. He had no idea.

A few days later, Akechi was sitting on Akira’s bed, petting Morgana, who looked ready to bite his hand off.

“I accept your school’s offer to be a guest speaker, by the way.” Akechi casually spoke up.

“Really?” Akira looked up from his homework. “Are you ready for questions all about the Phantom Thieves? Especially after your sudden change in mind?”

“Well, yes. It’s part of my job.” Akechi laughed. “Can’t stop people from asking what is going on.”

“What are his opinions on us, anyways?” Morgana asked and Akira tried to hide his shrug in a stretch.

“Ah, Morgana, you’re adorable.” Akechi kissed Morgana’s head. “But I guess me talking about the Phantom Thieves COULD make their opinions worse. More than the media had already made it.”

Akira hummed in reply as he picked up his phone and sent a text to Makoto, telling her that Akechi said yes.

“You have a point… they are under a lot of criticism over something that we have no idea whether they did or not.” Akira stood up and walked back to Akechi. Morgana hopped off Akechi’s lap so Akira could hug him.

“It looks like the Phantom Thieves have to get over this speed bump and get their act together.” To Akira, Akechi’s words sounded almost like a threat or like a loaded sentence. It was unsettling and Akira didn’t know how to feel about it. 

“But of course,” Akechi continued. “They’ll most likely get through this.”]

“Every face along the boulevard is a dreamer just like you.”

Akira looked up from the piano for a second to see a girl with fluffy looking pink hair and light grey eyes watching him. She had a small smile on her face as she sipped her drink. Akira recognized her automatically.

[The gang all stood in the gym teacher’s office, facing Goro Akechi as he smiled pleasantly at them.

“So you know?” Makoto asked and Akechi shrugged.

“I found out when I went to talk to Kurusu-San. I saw you guys meet up and disappear in front of Okumura’s palace. I got stuck in the palace until I got that… power… persona… when I was attacked. Then I left quickly.” Akechi looked down and scratched his arm.

“See, this is why you shouldn’t have gotten him involved, Akira.” Morgana commented from where he sat next to the said boy.

“Hey…” Akira frowned and gave the cat a look.

“What does Morgana mean?” Haru frowned.

“Yeah. Since when was Akechi more involved than his job?” Ann turned to look at Akira.

“Akira has slept with Akechi multiple times.” Morgana answered as he scratched his ears and the two boys jerked to turn to the cat.

“No! It was late and it was raining, I couldn’t leave him outside.” Akira tried to cover up the so called scandal between the two. Inside he was panicking, his outer mask almost cracking under his friend's glares.

“It was late and raining. He invited me inside. We slowly became friends after I started to frequent the shop. I didn’t want to suffer on the trains and inconvenience people, and the shop was nearby. Kurusu had just let me in and borrow some clothes. It's not bad to share a bed, is it?” Akechi shrugged. “Sometimes I go over late at night to just talk and I happen to fall asleep.”

“That… does seem harmless.” Makoto frowned and examined the two. “But for your offer…”

“We should think about it. Not decide now.” Akira answered.

The others agreed and some sighed. Akechi smiled and lead the others out. Ryuji stopped Akira though on the way out.

“Hey… dude.” Ryuji held onto Akira’s wrist and tugged him to the side. “You wouldn’t lie to me, right? Is there actually something between you and Akechi?”

Akira paused as he looked into Ryuji’s eyes. He felt like Ryuji was one of his best friends, he could tell him anythings. This also extended to Ann and Makoto. Hell, he even fake dated Makoto once to help her out. Morgana already knew everything about Akira’s life so he didn’t truly count in this.

“I.. truly love him.” Akira’s words weren’t that loud, and he could see Ryuji’s eyes calculating for a second, processing. 

“I respect your feelings.” Ryuji spoke after a second. “I just don’t want to see you hurt.”

“Thank you, Ryuji.” Akira gave him a small smile.

“Just… I won’t tell the others as long as you don’t get hurt, okay?” Ryuji leaned slightly closer. “You’re my brother, man.”

“I promise.”]

“You looked at death in a tarot card and you saw what you had to do.”

[Akira watched as Sae left the interrogation room. He was sure she believed him. He hoped she did. She had to. For everything to work it she had to.

Akira sighed as he looked down at his hands, which looked blurred. The drugs had messed with his memory a lot. He couldn’t remember some patches but that was okay. He had gotten everything off of his chest. From the first time he used Arsene, to the first time he kissed Akechi, down to breaching her palace and claiming that they would fix everything wrong with her and society.

It took a good five minutes of Akira lost in his blurry mind before the door opened.

“Sae-san-” Akira started, but as he looked up he had stopped. “Akechi…?” 

“Hello…. Dear…” Akechi stood in front of Akira, looking torn. Something was obviously eating away at Akechi. “Didn’t expect me to show up, did you?”

“I thought… you all were hiding?” Akira frowned. “I have to take the fall?”

“Yes… you do.” Akechi approached Akira and put his hand into his jacket pocket. “But justice has caught up with you.”

“Akechi-?” Akira’s eyes widened as he brought out a silenced handgun. “Akechi what are you-?”

“Be quiet, Akira.” Akechi cut him off. “This is hard to do. My father doesn’t know about what is going on between us. He just wants the leader dead, then the others. He doesn’t even know you’re connected. I kept you disconnected from it all for far too long.”

Akechi got nearer and Akira realized that Akechi was definitely the Snake. He was the rise and the fall. He was looking at his death card from Chihaya’s reading.

“You’re going to take me out… to please your father and society…” Akira’s voice was soft. “I got my fortune read and she said that I’d let a snake into my Garden of Eden… that was you.”

“Yes… I didn’t expect it to be you when we first got together in all honesty. You really intrigued me and I fell in love with you. But now…” Akechi held up the gun. “I have to kill you before they can.”

“Don’t do this…” Akira pleaded. Not yet. Maybe after Sae’s palace. He needed to save one last person. He at least had to save Akechi.

“I’m sorry…” 

A pressure hit Akira’s head before everything turned black.]

“But nobody knows you now, when you're dying in LA.”

[Akira had woken up with a killer headache, and in his bed in Le Blanc. He didn’t know how he got there, but he knew he had died and Igor had sent him back instead of what should have happened.

“He’s awake!” A shrill voice called out and Akira could hear footsteps.

“Oh my gosh!” Another voice gushed next to him and he flinched. “He is actually fully conscious.”

“Give him some space.”

Akira blinked at the figures around him and he could slowly make out the other Thieve’s faces and Sojiro’s. Everyone was there, besides Akechi.

“W-where’s…” Akira groaned and Sojiro handed him a cup of water.

“Akechi? In the hospital.” Ryuji answered.

“They said you attacked him and somehow you managed to get his weapon, hurt him, then try to kill yourself.” Futaba answered. “Or that you tried to kill yourself after someone attacked him.”

“What… really happened in there?” Makoto asked.

“I.. don’t remember.” Akira lied. From what they said, Akechi killed Akira then tried to take his own life.

“He’s in intensive care.” Haru sat down next to Akira’s legs. Morgana was in her lap and seemed oddly silent.

“I’m sorry about Akechi. I know you two were close. Hopefully when he gets out you can see him.” Ann smiled. Akira doubted it.

And Akira was right. Akechi disappeared after recovering, telling the media he needed time to recover now that the leader was dead and hurt him. This left Akira with an empty feeling in his chest. Had he done something wrong? He didn’t understand.]

“And nobody owes you now, when you're dying in LA.”

[After defeating Shido, the Phantom Thieves truly blended back into society and stepped down. They said that they would come back if they’re needed or when the time calls for it. The public cried out about how they wanted to know who they were and thank them. They wanted to know the secrets and how their leader survived his murder. But they gave none as they mixed back into society.

Ann became a big model. Ryuji became a writer surprisingly. Yusuke became a well known artist. Makoto became a law professor at a top ranked college quickly after she herself graduated. Haru ran her late father’s company and it was popular as ever. Futaba became more sociable and worked for the government in cyber warfare as she is going to school.

And Akira became a contractor for the police, with his side job of performing songs under an alias of Ren Amamiya. He helped the police in hard cases and gave a public perspective. He was a civilian contractor almost. He enjoyed his job and hoped to find Akechi one day. 

Akechi had only been seen publicly once after his disappearance. Akira had gotten a glimpse of him in Shido’s palace. The real Akechi, not the shadow’s version of Akechi to play with them. It stung Akira knowing that Akechi would never come back into his life. It truly hurt. But he lived on to do great things.]

“When you're dying in LA. When you're dying in LA.”

[Everybody kept tabs on each other, talking in group chats about their lives and keeping each other updated on everything. They would even go back to momentos to help out small problems, keeping some people hooked on the Phantom Thieves still. It helped Akira keep his sanity in the world. He was glad to have his friends still in touch, and Morgana still going everywhere with him.]

“The power, the power, the power. Oh the power, the power, the power;  
Of LA.”

Akira’s voice teetered off and his hands slowly stopped moving as the song ended and he didn’t know how to feel. Empty? Happy? Sorrowful?

Whatever the final emotion was, it was probably close to sickening nostalgia. He felt like the later end of his Phantom Thief years were mainly him being trapped in a chase of lies and love. It hurt to build up greatness, then suddenly fall like Icarus. It hurt him greatly.

Once the song’s final notes came out, people started to clap. He smiled as he stood up and bowed. They had requested him to be the in between artist while they changed their sets. He loved playing only one or two songs at a time because of how emotionally draining they were. This one reminded him too much of that time, and of him.

Akira picked up his book up and slid it back into his book as he left the piano. He smiled at people as he approached a table. The pink haired girl.

“Haru.” He smiled at her.

“Akira.” Haru breathed out and hugged him. “I’ve missed you.” 

“I’ve missed you too. How are you?” Akira put a hand on her shoulder after they broke apart. 

“I’ve been wonderful. It was nice hearing you sing again. I’ve been waiting for the others to arrive. It's our five year anniversary and we wanted to surprise you.”

“That’s not until next month…? And what surprise?” Akira tilted his head as Haru’s eyes glimmered with mischief.

“Us, silly.” A girl’s voice called out from behind him and he turned to see his friends all walking up. It was Ann who spoke up and she had a decent sized bag, which he realized had Morgana in it. The damn cat must have let them inside somehow to get him.

“You guys…” Akira smiled and started to hug them. “I’ve missed you!”

“We’ve missed you all too!” Futaba grinned and clapped her hands. “You work too much!”

“Well, we do all work hard.” Yusuke put a hand on Futaba’s shoulder, smiling down at her.

“Yeah, you can’t say anything, Futaba.” Makoto smiled.

“Akira doesn’t sleep much if it counts.” Morgana spoke up and they all rolled their eyes and sat down.

“Thank you guys for coming and seeing me.” Akira smiled at his friends.

“Dude, this was one of your major plays. We had to come see! We just couldn’t distract you by walking through.” Ryuji smiled and waved his hand. “Sides, we just found your present for the anniversary and we’d prefer to do it sooner than later so just in case you react badly.”

“What do you mean?” Akira licked his lips, confused.

“We… found someone.” Ann looked tense as she pressed something on her phone.

“What did you find?” Akira asked.

“Me.”

Akira’s head turned quickly to the familiar voice. Above him stood a brunette. He looked tired and his hair was slightly a mess. But he was wearing a nice suit. He could see people staring and whispering now. So many well known people all in one place. And this stranger…

“Akechi…” Akira whispered.

“It’s me.” Akechi smiled.

Akira bolted out of his chair and hugged the brunette tightly. He held back a sob and tried to hide his face into Akechi’s shoulder.

“You asshole. I’ve missed you…” Akira growled into his shoulder.

“I know, I’m sorry. I just couldn’t face you after all of that.” Akechi sounded as pained as Akira was as he moved them to sit down. “But I’m here now.”

“You’re actually here.” Akira leaned back and ran a hand over Akechi’s face. “You’re real…”

“See, told you he would be happy.” Ryuji grinned. “Me and Morgana knew this whole time!” 

The others rolled their eyes and just let the two talk quietly and catch up.

It hurt Akira to lose Akechi so suddenly, but having him back felt like pure bliss. He couldn’t tell how much he loved Akechi and he just wanted to kiss him and sleep next to him forever now that he was back.

**Author's Note:**

> Original Prompt: 
> 
> Dying in LA - PATD
> 
> Persona 5 AU where Akira plays piano and he performs at at venues sometimes and in a small club where people will get drunk and listen to the live performer. Akira is really good at it and wears a mask, sort of like his phantom thief mask. He wrote the song to explain his life, and be vague about it to sound like a performer. It's about the phantom thieves and their bringing up and falling and how they succeeded but no one knew their troubles. Akira gets popular along the crowd and Akechi approached him at one bar.


End file.
